HELP!!! Lump on bearded dragon unknown what it is!

[Pacg]

Hello, today I noticed a small bump above my bearded dragons left back leg at the base of his tail. 10.0 reptisun uvb bulb & 75watt basking bulb. 40 gallon tank & reptile carpet as substrate. Bearded is 5-6 months old & 13 inches & is male. He squirms when you touch the bump indicating that it hurts, any information would help please! I plan to take him to a vet soon, unfortunately I work as a waitress so money isn't constantly flowing & consistent so I don't have the money at this moment. Any information will help, unsure how to upload picture but the bump is small right now only on one side of the base of his tail, slightly above the left leg. I noticed it just today & it seems to hurt & slight be affecting his activeness. Please reply with any information as soon as possible!!! Thank you, as well if this information is needed he eats large crickets about 10 twice a day, greens w collard greens & sometimes kale in the afternoon with possibly bell peppers or zucchini squash on top & a few super worms most days. Rarely is given meal worms & everything is dusted with repti calcium with d3 & regular exo terra calcium every other day. I have a digital thermometer, humity is around 32% mostly & temp stays in the mid - high 90s on the basking side. Both lights are only a few months old, being bought in April. He also has a black light that goes on at night that produces no light but gives him heat exposure at night as well & UVB is off at night. I rescued this guy from a reptile shop after being dropped back off after some kid wasn't taking care of it. They took him to the vet made sure he was 100% healthy before rehoming him. Only had him for a few weeks, bump is small & not noticeable if you don't look for it, however it is affecting him in how he squirms & moves away if you touch it. Any reply would be great as soon as possible. Thank you!

 

[Romicron]

Hi - instructions for posting images can be found here.

https://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=213367

A few images would help the community to identify the issue more quickly. Hope this helps.

 

[Pacg]

Thank you! Just did that. Included a picture Of his tank as well, looks a lot smaller in picture than actually is. Is 40 gallons which is fine for him only being 5-6 months, will be upgraded soon. http://s86.photobucket.com/user/paytongrahaam/library/?view=recent&page=1

 

[Pacg]

Off topic but by chance can anyone's identify his morph? I'd love to know. & of course if anyone knows what the bump is please let me know as soon as possible. Here's some more pictures of him to help classify his morph http://s86.photobucket.com/user/paytongrahaam/library/?view=recent&page=1

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Do you leave any crickets in the tank with him?
It could be a possible abscess, or a cyst. Is it hard or soft to the touch?
He looks to be a regular morph & not a leatherback, etc but the normal morphs are my favorite!
Be sure the crickets aren't too big for him, just so he doesn't have any trouble with them & get impacted. We recommend no larger than the space between the eyes, on crickets & roaches.
He is a nice looking boy! Which UVB are you using, it looks like a small compact/coil type of light along with a basking light?

Tracie

 

[Pacg]

Thanks for the reply! Unless they've been hiding somewhere in the tank where I didn't see them no I don't leave crickets in there, he tends to eat them all up. As for them being too big I get big crickets but I showed the place I got him
& stores his size with pictures to determine if they'd be too big & they said they'd be fine. I'm using a zoo med 10.0 UVB bulb as well as 75watt basking bulb & 75 watt black light at night. The UVB & regular basking bulb came together. I was curious about his coloring like how he has citrus coloring if he was a citrus tiger or some sort, I don't know much about the morphs. I can't determine if it's soft or hard to the touch I feel it's hard but didn't inspect enough because it bothers him to be touched on it. What would be the issue if it happened to be a cyst or abscess what would he cause me & how could I fix it? & if not those do you know anything else it could be?

 

[kingofnobbys]

Thank you! Just did that. Included a picture Of his tank as well, looks a lot smaller in picture than actually is. Is 40 gallons which is fine for him only being 5-6 months, will be upgraded soon. http://s86.photobucket.com/user/paytongrahaam/library/?view=recent&page=1

No evidence I can see of it being from an open wound , I think if it's soft it's likely some kind of boil/cyst/abscess - a small needle biopsy by a vet will likely tell what it is, it's likely it needs to be drained and a course or antibiotics given to ensure the germ that caused it is killed off completely, there is no home remedy for this - you need to get on top of this before it progresses to a serious/lifethreatening systemic infection and the costs of treating thus currently minor infection become extensive and expensive. Time is of the essence. If it ruptures spontaneously this becomes an emergency as it also means he'll have a nasty systemic infection by then.

40 Gal is pretty small, but he'll be OK in it for another 12 months or so , but consider upgrading to a 4ft L x 2ft W x 2ft T for his forever home before he turns 2 yrs old.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks for the reply! Unless they've been hiding somewhere in the tank where I didn't see them no I don't leave crickets in there, he tends to eat them all up. As for them being too big I get big crickets but I showed the place I got him
& stores his size with pictures to determine if they'd be too big & they said they'd be fine. I'm using a zoo med 10.0 UVB bulb as well as 75watt basking bulb & 75 watt black light at night. The UVB & regular basking bulb came together. I was curious about his coloring like how he has citrus coloring if he was a citrus tiger or some sort, I don't know much about the morphs. I can't determine if it's soft or hard to the touch I feel it's hard but didn't inspect enough because it bothers him to be touched on it. What would be the issue if it happened to be a cyst or abscess what would he cause me & how could I fix it? & if not those do you know anything else it could be?

Sometimes there is nothing for it but while beardie is having some floor fun time to take the opportunity to strip everything out of the viv and hunt down those sneeky insects who have been hiding.
If you have fake acrylic rocks / grottos , they are hollow , being designed to go into aquariums (full of water) - helps to tape up the entrances to their hollows - stops them from hiding inside these.

 

[Pacg]

Thanks for the reply, I plan to take him to the vet as soon as I can, unsure of it there's any reptile vets near me so might have to take a trip. & yes I know, the 40 gallon is soon to be upgraded, it was just temporary. Any idea what could've caused it?

 

[Pacg]

I have a hammock, water dish, food dish & a basking rock (real rock) in there, no hollow areas but I will look to remove any that could be hiding.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Did the lump develop suddenly , ie was it there last week.

I'll a bit worried it might be the result of a hip injury resulting from getting a toe nail snagged in the hammock if it's a mesh type hammock so commonly used in beardie vivs , essentially beardie got one or more of his toe nails snagged when he was crawling / climbing off , he tried to free his snagged toe nail/s and panicked as you weren't home to help him unsnag it/them for him, and the swelling might be simply due to a soft-tissue injure in the hip area (strain, dislocation).

Still worth having a vet check him , an xray may be needed as well as snb.

How is his gate ? does he let you touch the lump without pulling away (because it's tender) ?

 

[Pacg]

I see where the hammock thing could be it, the fabric is some he could get stuck in. He doesn't run like it hurts horrible, but if I go to touch it he sqwerms a little bit. I just noticed it about an hour before posting on here, I think it just appeared because I would've noticed if it's been there.

 

[kingofnobbys]

I see where the hammock thing could be it, the fabric is some he could get stuck in. He doesn't run like it hurts horrible, but if I go to touch it he sqwerms a little bit. I just noticed it about an hour before posting on here, I think it just appeared because I would've noticed if it's been there.

Mmmm -
first order of business - remove the hammock.

2nd order of business - really needs a vet to examine him and maybe take x-rays , if he's lucky he's pulled a muscle or sprained something, is more serious if he's dislocated or broken something but definitely something a vet can help wifh.

I found this that might help localize where the injury is

and your image showing the lump (I think you refer to)

 

[Pacg]

For a pulled muscle or sprain what would be the treatment for that? His back legs seem to be sorta weaker, possibly a symptom of a sprain or could I just be noticing things that aren't actually happening? His movements seem to be okay, doesn't seem like it hurts to move much however he hasn't been extremely active yesterday or the day before

 

[kingofnobbys]

A pulled muscle or sprain will swell up and be tender for a while, but soon come good.

A dislocation, that's a different story, as is a broken bone.

My Puff had a sore arm for a couple of days when he was about 12 months old (?) , took him to the vet and he made a liar of me, his gate was perfect and he no longer favoured the leg.

My male bluetongue skink somehow broke his left arm above the elbow when he was a juvenile (very rambunctious little boy), first reptile vet saw him for a few minutes and dismissed it as a sprain - told to come back in a week or two if there were no improvements or any deteriorations and sent me on my way reminding me to pay at desk before I left, no improvements and his arm swelled up and was very tender so I took him to different reptile vet who saw nothing with the first xray, so took a second and spotted a spiral fracture , this made it expensive to repair - required a general and a special pin inserted into the broken bone, quoted and asked what I wanted to do, told him I wanted it fixed and I was told to return next day , paid my money and waited in the car for 3 hours for the surgery and recovery and took him home with his arm and shoulder in a cast , a series of anti-inflammatory / painkiller injections (every 2nd day) and antibiotics to inject daily and Calcivet to give daily to help with bone repai/growth.
The caste made to immobilize his broken reset armed made his arm poke out from his shoulder, never slowed him down (especially days he got his painkiller injections).
A couple months later cast came off, arm was good as new.
Not sure what a vet will do for a dislocation - I expect it'll need relocation under at least general as it's a very painful procedure.

You really don't know what you are dealing until he's been examined by a vet, any vet can do an x-ray and maybe take a small needle sample of what's in the lump if it's not due to trauma of some kind.
I hope it's nothing serious .